Empowering women in food, agriculture untapped source of growth: FAO

Improving access to knowledge and resources for women working in the food and agriculture sectors can boost global growth and contribute to feeding millions, according to a new report released on Thursday by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Entitled the "Status of Women in Agrifood Systems", the report says that gender inequalities like less pay and limited access to education for women account for a 24 percent gap in productivity between women and men farmers on farms of equal size.

Given the fact that over one third of the world's working women are employed in agrifood systems, which include the production of food and non-food agricultural products, as well as related activities from food storage, transportation and processing to distribution, finding ways to increase their productivity would potentially increase global gross domestic product by nearly 1 trillion US dollars and reduce the number of food-insecure people by 45 million, the report says.

It also reveals that despite improvements over the last decade or more, women remain "significantly disadvantaged in landownership compared with men," including weak protection for women's land rights in 40 of 46 countries surveyed for the report.

"If we tackle the gender inequalities endemic in agrifood systems and empower women, the world will take a leap forward in addressing the goals of ending poverty and creating a world free from hunger," FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu said in a statement issued by the organization.

FAO's 264-page report intends to provide governments and companies with a comprehensive analysis of the available evidence on the gender gap and women's empowerment in agriculture and food systems.

The report is a follow-up on an earlier study entitled the "State of Food and Agriculture 2010-11: Women in Agriculture".